Open Walden to any page and you will find a man saying in a plain and orderly way what is on his mind: I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. (Location 176)
Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other. (Location 181)
Writers must therefore constantly ask: what am I trying to say? Surprisingly often they don’t know. (Location 197)
Thinking clearly is a conscious act that writers must force on themselves, as if they were working on any other project that requires logic: making a shopping list or doing an algebra problem. (Location 201)
Most first drafts can be cut by 50 percent without losing any information or losing the author’s voice. (Location 277)
I said that writing is a craft, not an art, and that the man who runs away from his craft because he lacks inspiration is fooling himself. He is also going broke. (Location 127)
Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is. (Location 146)
Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next, and it’s not a question of gimmicks to “personalize” the author. (Location 151)
Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon. (Location 157)
But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. (Location 163)
The clear writer is someone clearheaded enough to see this stuff for what it is: fuzz. (Location 199)
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard. (Location 204)
I would put brackets around every component in a piece of writing that wasn’t doing useful work. (Location 272)
I’ll admit that certain nonfiction writers, like Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer, have built some remarkable houses. (Location 302)
Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself. (Location 314)
What I’m always looking for as an editor is a sentence that says something like “I’ll never forget the day when I . . .” I think, “Aha! A person!” (Location 331)
Sell yourself, and your subject will exert its own appeal. Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going. (Location 374)
You are writing primarily to please yourself, and if you go about it with enjoyment you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for. (Location 385)
First, work hard to master the tools. Simplify, prune and strive for order. Think of this as a mechanical act, and soon your sentences will become cleaner. (Location 396)
Never say anything in writing that you wouldn’t comfortably say in conversation. If you’re not a person who says “indeed” or “moreover,” or who calls someone an individual (“he’s a fine individual”), please don’t write it. (Location 405)